More people put money into their savings accounts in July following the launch of New Individual Savings Account (Nisa) rules, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), with savers depositing £4.95bn during the month, almost matching the total for the previous six months. Read more

According to a survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), optimism among customer services firms is strong, with 48 per cent of companies feeling more confident than three months ago. Read more

Two out of the nine members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to raise interest rates in August, the first time in three years that policymakers have not been unanimous in keeping the rate as it is. Read more

Official figures released yesterday (19 August) show that annual house price inflation was 10.2 per cent in June, down slightly from May’s 10.4 per cent but still in double figures and mainly so high because of prices in London, where the value of property increased by 19.3 per cent over the year. Read more

The rate of inflation in the UK fell more than expected in July, as the cost of clothing, footwear, food and non-alcoholic drinks eased, according to figures released today (August 19) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read more

According to a recent newspaper interview, Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, may not necessarily wait for real wages to increase before raising interest rates, focusing instead on the underlying wages trend. Read more

The unemployment rate fell to 6.4 per cent in the three months to the end of June, with the number of people out of work falling by 132,000 to 2.08 million, the lowest since late 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read more

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney announced today (13 August) that the Bank is halving its forecast for average wage growth, saying it now expects average salaries to rise by only 1.25 per cent this year. Read more

The UK has been dubbed the ‘self-employment capital’ of Western Europe after an increase in the number of people working for themselves, according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Read more

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are rejected for bank funding are to be offered access to an “SME dating agency” that will connect them with independent, non-bank lenders who are willing to back them, according to a Government report. Read more

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed that around one third of eligible retirees will take cash out of their pension pot from April 2015 under new flexibility rules. Around 400,000 people will have the chance to take the money initially and about 130,000 will do so, according to the taxman. Read more